The Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook

Cook’s Illustrated probably has the most devoted following of any food magazine – and for good reason. Their no-nonsense magazines each contain recipes that were exhaustively tested to ensure they represent the best result possible, as well as product and equipment reviews that you can trust. The first Cook’s Illustrated magazine hit the stands in 1992, which means that the magazine is about to celebrate it’s 20th anniversary. To celebrate this milestone, and to recognize all of the hard work that has been put unto every issue, The Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook was put together. The massive volume can replace the stack of dog-eared back issues of the magazine that is sitting in the corner of your kitchen. It contains 2,000 of the best recipes that Cook’s Illustrated has published in the past two decades.

As you flip through the book, you’ll notice that there are far more recipes in here than you could possibly have imagined. Although 2,000 recipes does sound like a lot, avid readers of the magazine will probably feel that they have a good handle on the types of recipes that they’ll find in here. This is true, to an extent, but everyone who picks it up with discover (or rediscover) favorites. The recipes are divided into categories and further divided into smaller sections – the Pasta chapter, for instance, is divided into 9 sections based on the types of sauce and pasta used – so it is easy to find recipes on any particular subject. They are all written in the same, familiar style as the recipes from the magazine and other Cook’s Illustrated cookbooks: there is a discussion of how they put together this version of the recipe and why it works before the instructions.

Alongside the recipes are many tips (with hand drawn illustrations, of course) on completing various kitchen tasks, from stuffing won tons to slicing fennel to assembling double crust pies. Every tip and every recipe is clear and helpful. If I were to fault the book on anything, it is on the total lack of color illustrations or photos. That said, I definitely have a strong connection to Cook’s Illustrated, just as many other long time readers do, and the lack of a few pictures isn’t going to lower my confidence in my ability to make any of these recipes or in my confidence that they will all come out very well when I do make them.

6 Comments

Margot

October 10, 2011

Love Cooks Illustrated! I can sit down and read it like a novel and it appeals to my logical streak (why do we use the ingredients and methods to get that end result?). I’ll be on the lookout for this cookbook – to get rid of the stack of magazine in the corner of my kitchen! 🙂 Thanks for the “heads up”!

amorlindo

October 11, 2011

Well, bakingbites just got my attention on “how to lattice a pie” and happen to read onto this website! Now, I don’t own ANY cookbooks but would love a copy of Cooks Illustrated. As for a favorite recipe…I have alot which are my own. Some of which are not written down but are passed on down from my mother. But from here on up, I’m going to jot ’em down recipe style, and start my own “Herrera-tary Cookbook”…meaning…Herrera, as in our last name. And “tary”, as in hereditary! But to name a couple…Moms’ Copidotara (bread, raisin, cinnamon pudding) is 1. 2nd, Chili con carne with honey sweet cornbread. 3rd, her famous flour tortillas (I have not mastered it like hers, for real). So, there you have it!

Rebecca

October 11, 2011

There are so many favorites but the one I make the most is the recipe for steak tacos. Lots of cilantro…yum. The key lime bars are always a huge hit, too.

Lenore

October 11, 2011

Oh my goodness, this looks like my idea of heaven. People think that I am sick having New Best Recipe and Baking Illustrated in my bed, but they all seem to come round when I say that I am cooking or baking. Best ever recipe from them has to be the pancakes! Americans are probably used to these kind of pancakes but they are quite different to ours in New Zealand. I would love to own this book. Cheers

David

October 13, 2011

My wife and I love Cooks Illustrated and America’s Test Kitchen. They have so much practical advice! We haven’t had a chance to cook many of their recipes, since we both work full time, but we have incorporated many of their helpful tips into our every-day cooking. Can’t beat the classic recipes that they have made even better — apple pie, key lime pie, roast chicken. My wife even had a class in college that used “Best Recipe” as a textbook. I love how they walk you through the reasons they do things the way they do.